American Chemical Society

Fighting a killer frog fungus (video)

ACS Ebola resources available to journalists

Have questions about the science underlying the ongoing Ebola crisis? The virus has so far infected more than 8,000 people, making it the largest outbreak of the virus in history. Despite the incredible efforts of local and global public health teams, Tom Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called the situation "unprecedented" while on a visit to the affected region. He also predicted that it would only get worse before officials could get a handle on the crisis.

Olive oil more stable and healthful than seed oils for frying food

Frying is one of the world's most popular ways to prepare food — think fried chicken and french fries. Even candy bars and whole turkeys have joined the list. But before dunking your favorite food in a vat of just any old oil, consider using olive. Scientists report in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that olive oil withstands the heat of the fryer or pan better than several seed oils to yield more healthful food.

Interesting facts about our favorite candy to mark National Chemistry Week

WASHINGTON — Chemists around the world this week are helping children explore the chemical tricks that confectioners use to transform their ingredients into irresistible treats. These efforts to explain the science behind jelly beans, licorice, chocolate and other gooey delights are part of National Chemistry Week, Oct. 19-25, an annual event sponsored by the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society. This year’s theme celebrates “The Sweet Side of Chemistry: Candy.” Among the interesting and curious scientific facts about candy are:

Skin patch could replace the syringe for disease diagnosis

Drawing blood and testing it is standard practice for many medical diagnostics. As a less painful alternative, scientists are developing skin patches that could one day replace the syringe. In the ACS journal Analytical Chemistry, one team reports they have designed and successfully tested, for the first time, a small skin patch that detected malaria proteins in live mice. It could someday be adapted for use in humans to diagnose other diseases, too.

An effective, cost-saving way to detect natural gas pipeline leaks

Major leaks from oil and gas pipelines have led to home evacuations, explosions, millions of dollars in lawsuit payouts and valuable natural resources escaping into the air, ground and water. But in a report in ACS' journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, scientists say they have developed a new software-based method that finds leaks even when they're small, which could help prevent serious incidents — and save money for customers and industry.

Turning waste from whisky-making into fuel — close to commercial reality?

A start-up company in Scotland is working to capitalize on the tons of waste produced by one of the country's most valued industries and turn the dregs of whisky-making into fuel. Celtic Renewables, formed in 2011, has refined its process based on a century-old fermentation technique and is now taking the next step toward a commercial plant, according to an article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society.

Dolphin 'breathalyzer' could help diagnose animal and ocean health

Alcohol consumption isn't the only thing a breath analysis can reveal. Scientists have been studying its possible use for diagnosing a wide range of conditions in humans — and now in the beloved bottlenose dolphin. In a report in the ACS journal Analytical Chemistry, one team describes a new instrument that can analyze the metabolites in breath from dolphins, which have been dying in alarming numbers along the Atlantic coast this year.

Discarded cigarette ashes could go to good use — removing arsenic from water

Arsenic, a well-known poison, can be taken out of drinking water using sophisticated treatment methods. But in places that lack the equipment or technical know-how required to remove it, it still laces drinking water and makes people sick. To tackle this problem, scientists have come up with a new low-cost, simple way to remove arsenic using leftovers from another known health threat — cigarettes. They report their method in ACS' journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research.

A brighter design emerges for low-cost, 'greener' LED light bulbs

The phase-out of traditional incandescent bulbs in the U.S. and elsewhere, as well as a growing interest in energy efficiency, has given LED lighting a sales boost. However, that trend could be short-lived as key materials known as rare earth elements become more expensive. Scientists have now designed new materials for making household LED bulbs without using these ingredients. They report their development in ACS' Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Tonsil stem cells could someday help repair liver damage without surgery

The liver provides critical functions, such as ridding the body of toxins. Its failure can be deadly, and there are few options for fixing it. But scientists now report in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces a way to potentially inject stem cells from tonsils, a body part we don't need, to repair damaged livers — all without surgery.

Why Do Leaves Change Color?

New study throws into question long-held belief about depression

New evidence puts into doubt the long-standing belief that a deficiency in serotonin — a chemical messenger in the brain — plays a central role in depression. In the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience, scientists report that mice lacking the ability to make serotonin in their brains (and thus should have been "depressed" by conventional wisdom) did not show depression-like symptoms.

Environmentalists and industry duke it out over plastic bags

Artificial 'beaks' that collect water from fog: A drought solution?

From the most parched areas of Saudi Arabia to water-scarce areas of the western U.S., the idea of harvesting fog for water is catching on. Now, a novel approach to this process could help meet affected communities' needs for the life-essential resource. Scientists describe their new, highly efficient fog collector, inspired by a shorebird's beak, in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

Rooting out horse-meat fraud in the wake of a recent food scandal

As the United Kingdom forms a new crime unit designed to fight food fraud — in response to an uproar last year over horse meat being passed off as beef — scientists from Germany are reporting a technique for detecting meat adulteration. They describe their approach, which represents a vast improvement over current methods, in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Toward making lithium-sulfur batteries a commercial reality for a bigger energy punch

A fevered search for the next great high-energy, rechargeable battery technology is on. Scientists are now reporting they have overcome key obstacles toward making lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, which have the potential to leave today's lithium-ion technology in the dust. Their study appears in the ACS journal Nano Letters.

What's in your iPhone? - Reactions

The Science of Caffeine: The World's Most Popular Drug - Reactions

A fix to our cell-phone waste problem?

When it comes to cell phones, the world is stunningly wasteful. Customers will buy more than 1.8 billion new ones by the end of this year only to abandon almost half of them to drawers, and they'll recycle a mere 3 percent of them. But creative and enterprising efforts are underway to reverse the seemingly unstoppable tide, says an article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly news magazine of the American Chemical Society.